Dolphin, the GameCube and Wii emulator - Forums

I am interested in organizing a group of volunteers to create some benchmarking data for dolphin. This data will be used to study and understand the effects of various variables on overall performance. I need as many volunteers as possible, the benchmarking will revolve around the cpu specifically since it is almost always the bottleneck in dolphin. Any cpu will do, we need as many different cpus as possible.

Variables to examine:
64 bit vs. 32 bit
SSE version
Memory Bandwidth
Memory latency
Overall memory read/write (both sequential and random)
NB Bandwidth
Hypertransport/Quick Path Interconnect/ Front side bus speeds
Core clock rates
Brand Prediction
Out of Order Execution
Hyperthreading
Dual core vs. Triple vs. Quad
Cache Size

Trust me I have this all planned out but I need volunteers to get it going. Obviously to ensure proper results we will all need to be using the same build and using a fps counter in the exact same spot in the exact same game with the exact same settings. We will also all need to make sure that their are as few processes running in the background as possible, even explorer.exe must go. It is highly recommended that you have some experience with overclocking before doing this because you can contribute more but it is not required, we need all the help we can get.

We won't use several games because whatever game/games we choose everyone will have to have. The more games we use the less people can participate. And remember that we want to choose a game that is basically impossible to run at fullspeed at some point near the beginning.

I will post more info later I promise, although I won't be on much over the next week.

With this data we can also make a better pc buying guide and finally end the arguments over what cpu is better than what for dolphin.

We need at least bare minimum one person that owns a cpu from each of the following families to complete an across the board benchmark:
-Clarkdale family (core i3 and core i5 6 series, any of them will do)
-Lynnfield family 7 series
-Lynnfield family 8 series or bloomfield 9 series
-Core 2 quad (it would be great to get at least one person with a high cache model and one person with a low cache model, as well as someone with the first gen. SSE3 models)
-Core 2 Duo (it would be great to get at least one person with a high cache model and one person with a low cache model, as well as someone with the first gen. SSE3 models)
-Smithfield or Presler (the original Pentium D)
-Athlon X2 (getting both a high cache and low cache model would be great)
-Athlon II
-Phenom II (an original Phenom is not necessary but would help a lot)

If their is anything I have left out, overlooked, or you have a recommendation/comment/question please feel free to post it.

You must have at least 2GB of ram to participate if you are running on windows.

If you are interested please post the cpu models for all the systems you can use, as well as if you can use 64 bit dolphin (you need a 64 bit os for this), and a list of games you can use. After a week or so we should have enough people to get started so I will put up a poll with the 10 most popular games and we will all vote on one.

Once we have enough people I'll set up an irc channel just for this group in order to help better organize things.

Be sure to check my original post every once and awhile since I will constantly be adding new details to it.

Current Volunteers:
-Ocean (core i3 540, core i7 950, C2D t2080, C2D t4300, C2D e5200, Phenom II 940)
-Roger525 (Core i3 530, C2D Merom T5600)
-RupeeClock (C2D E8600)
-Johnblunt (C2D t2050)
-naroth (C2D e2180)
-cmccmc (Athlon II 440)
-shortzi (C2Q Q6600)
-NaturalViolence (C2Q Q6600)
-Graglin (Athlon X2 4000+, Athlon X2 4800, Phenom II 550)
-JADS (Core i7 860, turion X2 Tyler)
-Leo (C2D T5200)
-darkshadw (Athlon X2 5200+)
-jontcold (Phenom II 965)
-James333 (PD E2180)
-Starscream (Athlon II M300)
-akskiller (Athlon X2 6000+)
-shideravan (C2D T3400)
-TyphooN (C2Q Q6600)
-Maybe Runo (Athlon X2 4400+)
-GundamQuatro (Athlon X2 4600+)
-ahmadmud (Core i7 920XM)
-elite (C2D e7400)

Oh and to everyone who has volunteered THANKS A LOT! I greatly appreciate it.

Platform: Windows
Dolphin Build: v2.0 64 bit
Game: The Legend of Zelda the Twilight Princess
Version: Any, but you have to tell me or you can't participate
Spot: Faron woods (this may change later, still getting the save game ready)
Settings:
Global:
Enable Dual Core
Enable Idle Skipping
HLE The IPL
JIT Recompiler
Framelimiter: Off
Uncheck lcok threads to cores, dsplle on thread, confirm on stop, and panic handlers
Plugins:
Direct3D9
DSP-HLE
GCPAD or Wiimote
Graphics:
Fullscreen
Aspect ratio force 4:3
Resolution: 640 x 480 on fullscreen
Anti-alias: None
Enable CPU EFB Access
Disable Fog
Overlay fps counter
Enable efb copy to ram
Uncheck safe texture cache, everything in the enhancements tab, use XFB, and use real xfb
Audio:
Dsound
Enable HLE Audio
Enable DTK Music
Uncheck enable audio throttle and RE0 audio hack

Be sure to check out our irc channel.

irc.unvanquished.net
#dolphinbenchmark
Port 6667

Which games will you use to run this benchmark? I might join in with my i7 860 @3.5 Ghz

I think we might vote on that. Normally I would just use metroid prime since I have it and the very first area has horrible low fps on any system (outside of the pirate frigate). But we should vote on it since whatever game we choose everyone will have to get, and since people will vote for games they already have that will mean that we will probably end up picking a game that most of us already have.

Why did someone rate this thread 2 stars? Shows the intelligence of forum.. When a person wants to help the project and gather some useful data, it is unappreciated..

I can contribute performance info to your project with following:

core i3 540 processor (desktop)
core i7 950 processor (desktop)
intel t2080 dual core (mobile)
intel t4300 dual core (mobile)
intel e5200 dual core (desktop)
amd phenom II X4 940 (desktop)

Some of them are running as servers or not in use, but if you need benchmarking data for dolphin, I can provide those, along with the various ram sticks and graphics cards they have.

Are we taking GPUs into account? I see you didn't mention them. Personally I would say just leave them out, as it hardly ever is a bottleneck in Dolphin.

Anyway, I'd like to contribute with the following:

Core i3 530 @ 2.93GHz (desktop)
Core 2 Duo Merom T5600 @ 1.8GHz (mobile)

I'm running Windows 7 x64 on the first one, W7 x86 on the other one, but I'm willing to install a different OS beside the primary one if necessary.

As for which game to use for the benchmark: why not use several? Zelda TP Wii demands ridiculous muscle for Hyrule field, Metroid Prime is a bitch in some areas, F Zero GX isn't all fun and games on some more mainstream systems... let's just pick a few and choose a specific point in the game for the benchmark.

My CPU is a Core 2 Duo E8600, I believe it's the fastest "Wolfdale" processor intel made in the line.
Clocked @ 3.6ghz, I'd be happy to run some Benchmarks, I have some of the standard games like Mario Sunshine, Galaxy, Zelda Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, JP Brawl, Mario Kart, etc.

If you need people to test specific locations in the games, you should provide some save files to use.

Edit: Oh yes, it's SSE 4.1 compatible.

I just found out that I got a really lame dual core. Im not really shure, but it look like i have one of the dual core CPUs that is not 64 bit.
It is a Intel Centrino Duo 2050. I might help you out if its any interrest to you.

I can help you, I have (a lame):

Conroe; DualCore e2180 @2.2Ghz (stock 2.0Ghz), Biostar Motherboard, Multiplier x10, Voltage 1.280V, BUS speed: 222.2 MHz, Rated FSB: 888.8 MHz;
MMX, SSE, SS2, SS3, SSS3, EM64T;
Lv2 Cache 1024 KBytes;
32bit OS (but can handle 64bit);
2Gb RAM (1 stick), FSBRAM=3:4,

I´ve overclocked my CPU, but my motherboard doesnt let me go any further (dont want to change the voltage values)


can choose from this games:
Metroid 1,2
Zelda: WW, TP
Mario games: NSMBWii, sunshine, Galaxy, paper mario TYD (I might buy Marop party 7 next week, i dont have money now XD)
Super smash bros: melee, brawl
Muramasa the demon blade
Tales of symphonia 2

Sure i could help, I have a Quad Q6600 G0 overclocked to 3.2ghz

I can help. I have an Athlon II X2 440@3.0ghz